


color me free

by ErinElizabeth



Category: No Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:27:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29417124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErinElizabeth/pseuds/ErinElizabeth
Summary: this is just for my friends to read bc i need validation :(
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	color me free

Micah Baylor stared up at the bright white ceiling as he laid restlessly in his twin size bed. A soft glow of daylight was threatening to show itself from behind the black-out curtains he had hung when he redecorated his room summers before. He reached for his bedside table, aimlessly searching for the cell phone that his parents had finally agreed to buy him at the beginning of the year --with the guarantee that they would check it at least once a week, in order to make sure he wasn’t using it inappropriately, of course. 

The time read 6:42am. Three minutes before his alarm was set to go off, a sound that would signal the beginning of his last day of Freshman year at St. John’s Academy, the private Christian school he had been going to since preschool. 

Sighing, Micah quickly silenced his phone, making sure the loud chimes wouldn’t ring through his room. He rolled out of bed, the hardwood floor freezing despite the unbearably warm weather outside in rural Georgia. 

His dad liked the house to be freezing cold, so freezing cold it was. 

Micah had his head buried in his closet, searching for a clean uniform top. His room might have looked clean to the casual bypasser, but there was absolutely no rhyme or reason for the way things were organized. He finally found one, and as he pulled it off the hanger, he heard his bedroom door opening behind him. 

Micah didn’t have to look up to know his mother was standing at the door, not bothering to knock before entering his bedroom. She never knocked. Neither did his father. His parents claimed that if they gave their children the courtesy of knocking on their closed doors, they might be tempted to do things that would need to be hidden. 

“I was just making sure you were awake and getting ready,” his mother said, her voice too full of cheer considering it wasn’t even 7am yet. Even if it were, Micah hadn’t gotten enough sleep during the night to match his mother’s consistently cheerful personality. 

“I’m awake,” Micah said, forcing a smile on his face. “I’m always awake on time, mom, it’s Emery you need to check on,” he reminded her. 

“You don’t have to remind me, Micah. I don’t know why your father and I are allowing her to go away for two full months. She’ll probably sleep through all of the campus visits we have scheduled for her,” she said, shaking her head. “Anyways, go get ready so you can have breakfast before your father has to go to work.” 

Micah nodded, “I’ll be down in a few minutes,” he agreed. With his verbal understanding, his mother left his room, leaving the door wide open behind her. 

She always did that. 

Micah walked over, closing the door gently. He wished he had the confidence to slam it, but that just wasn’t who he was. That’s the kind of thing Emery would do, but Micah was practically the complete opposite of his older sister. 

He quickly changed out of his pajamas and into the uniform that St. John’s Academy required of all students before heading downstairs to the dining room, where a plate was already sat at his usual spot at the table. 

Like every other morning, Micah pulled out his chair, sitting down but not touching the plate set before him. His father was already seated at the head of the table, sipping a cup of coffee as he read the Tuesday morning paper. His mother was just taking a seat at her own spot at the dining room table as Emery wandered down, her cell phone balanced between her ear and her shoulder. 

“--coming over here at 8am? Seriously? On the first day of summer, Cae?” she said, Micah only catching the last part of her conversation. “Yeah okay, I’ll see you at school, bye,” she said, almost dropping her phone as she hung up. 

“How nice of you to join us, Emery,” Micah’s father spoke, finally lowering his paper, setting it to the side of his plate. “Would you like to lead us in prayer this morning?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Emery agreed as she took the last remaining spot at the table. As the eldest child began to pray aloud, everyone bowed their heads. 

Once she finished, the family began to eat their breakfast. “I’m sorry that I was late to breakfast,” Emery started. “Caeden has a meeting with Mr. Harris at lunch, he’s supposed to be his student teaching assistant next year. We were just trying to finalize our plans for tomorrow,” she said. 

“Oh, so Caeden is going into teaching? He’ll be excellent, I’m sure,” Micah’s mother began. 

“I just wish you would take half the initiative that Caeden does, Emery. See, it’s things like that that’ll look good on college applications. Football and cheerleading, that’s one thing, but this is a real academic accomplishment. You need to be looking for things like this to put on your applications,” Micah’s father added. 

“Speaking of,” Micah’s mother began, glancing around the table as she changed the topic, “Micah, we know that you’re upset that Harrison will be visiting his grandparents over the summer.” 

Harrison, Micah’s best friend and the only person his age that his parents trust, was supposed to be Micah’s ticket to experience a real teenager’s summer. All he had to do was tell his parents that Harrison was tagging along, and he would be able to leave his house for reasons other than Sunday morning church and Wednesday evening Bible study. It was perfectly planned. At least, it was until Harrison broke the news that he would be spending the entirety of his vacation from school with his grandparents in Chicago, Illinois.

Micah just shrugged at his mother’s words, but then quickly thought twice. His parents hated when they didn’t answer them verbally. They would say it was a sign of disrespect. “Yeah, but I understand. He’s looking forward to seeing the city,” he said, pushing his eggs around the plate with his fork. 

“Eat your breakfast, Micah,” his mother scolded. “Anyways, your father and I have spoken with Emery, and she’s suggested that you might be interested in going with her and Caeden this summer…” she said, leaving her words open ended. 

Emery and her best friend Caeden, both finishing their junior year at St. John’s Academy, would be embarking on a summer long road trip to visit college campuses across the United States. It had been the main topic of discussion in the Baylor household for the last six months, between renting hotels, setting up campus visits, and reminding Emery that this was not a vacation, but an investment in her future. 

Micah’s father picked up from that point. “Of course, we were skeptical. You’re only fifteen. We know that you’re a responsible boy, Micah, but two months away from home is a lot… But it’s never too early to begin planning for the future. So if you’d like to go with your sister and Caeden… We’d be willing to allow it. Of course, there will be rules, and we’ll be expecting Emery,” he said, shooting Micah’s older sister a pointed look, “to enforce them.” 

Micah was shocked into complete silence. Never in a million years would he expect his parents to allow something like this. 

“Micah, you kinda need to make a decision at some point today. Because if you’re going, it’s gonna be a long night of packing,” Emery cut in. “Not to mention if we don’t leave soon, we’ll be late for first hour.” 

“Wait are you guys serious? I can actually go with Em?” he asked. He wouldn’t let himself believe it. This had to be some kind of joke. Any second now, his parents and Emery would burst out laughing. Obviously they weren’t actually offering to let him spend the summer travelling across the United States. 

“Like we said, there will be some rules… But if you’d like to go, we’ll allow it,” Micah’s mother said. 

“Of course I want to go,” he said, unable to contain the smile on his face. 

The rest of breakfast went smoothly, Micah’s parents exchanging small talk as they all finished their meal. After everyone had finished eating and the table had been cleared, Micah and Emery grabbed their backpacks and made their way out the front door of the Baylor household. 

The drive to school was short, but it was filled by a million questions falling out of Micah’s mouth. “Micah, I can’t answer you when you ask something else as soon as I open my mouth, one question at a time,” Emery said, but she had a smile on her face. 

“How did you get mom and dad to agree to let me come? --Wait actually, why did you convince mom and dad to let me come?” 

“Micah, you’re my baby brother. I know how much you were looking forward to getting out of the house this summer. I get it-- mom and dad can be kinda unbearable,” Emery answered. “So when I brought up how beneficial it would be for you to get an idea of what colleges and majors might interest you…” she added, leaving the thought open ended. 

Micah and Emery sat in silence for a long moment, the only sound being the wind flowing in through the open windows and the loud pop music playing on the radio. 

“Thanks, Em,” Micah said. 

“You’re welcome, nerd,” Emery said, reaching over to mess up Micah’s hair. 

“So what time are we leaving tomorrow?” Micah asked after a few minutes, and once again they were on the topic of their summer trip, both visibly excited about what the next two months would hold for them.

Once at school, as per usual, Micah and Emery went their separate ways. Despite being very close, like most siblings, they had their own social circles and the two did not intertwine. Emery was a Junior, and a rather popular one at that --Of course she didn’t want to spend all of her time hanging out with her fifteen year old baby brother. 

Micah headed straight towards his homeroom and took his normal seat next to his best friend, Harrison. “Guess what?” he said, setting his stack of books down on his desk. 

Harrison and Micah were complete opposites. Where Micah was quiet, Harrison was loud. Where Micah was shy, Harrison was outgoing. Where Micah was obedient, Harrison was rebellious. But somehow, their friendship just worked. They balanced each other out perfectly. 

“What?” Harrison asked, turning away from the group of peers he had been in conversation with before Micah entered the classroom. 

“You know how I told you that my parents were letting Emery and Caeden go on that trip this summer, right? To look at colleges and everything?” Micah said. Of course Harrison knew about the trip. Although Micah wouldn’t admit it, he had been jealous for months. And Micah wasn’t very good at hiding his jealousy. 

“Yeah, which I still don’t understand how they’re letting her go. I mean, your parents wouldn’t even let you hang out with me if they didn’t think I was sent from God above,” Harrison said, rolling his eyes. 

“Hey, man, you shouldn’t talk like that,” Micah said, lighting scolding his friend. Harrison just rolled his eyes. He was never as into religion as Micah was, despite making it seem that way to any adult they would ever come in contact with. 

In reality, Micah didn’t know how his parents were allowing the trip either, but he highly suspected that it was the Caeden of it all.

Caeden and Emery had been best friends for as long as they’d been alive. Their parents had gone to the same church since they were children themselves, and both mothers had gotten pregnant at the same time, Caeden’s mother giving birth only three weeks earlier.

It’s as if Caeden and Emery were just born to be in each other’s lives. 

And Mr. and Mrs. Baylor adored Caeden. He was every parent’s dream. He was the starting quarterback for St. John’s football team, he was the junior class president ( and a shoe-in to be reelected as the senior class president next year ), he was consistently on the honor roll, he would always volunteer in the church and in the community… There was nothing about Caeden not to love. 

In fact, Micah couldn’t help but think that his parents even hoped that one day, Caeden and Emery would become romantically involved. 

“And honestly, I don’t know either. But I don’t really care! Do you wanna know why?” Micah asked. 

“Why don’t you care, M?” Harrison asked, clearing off his desk as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. 

“Because Emery convinced my parents to let me tag along! I don’t know how she did it, but I get to go on the trip with her and Caeden!” Micah said, a huge smile gracing his face. “I don’t know how she did it, but she did! I guess she told them it’d be good for my future or something, but I get to go!” he said. 

“How is it going to be good for your future?” Harrison asked. Their teacher was running late to class, giving them an opportunity to continue their conversation. 

“I mean, we’re going on campus tours and everything. So it will be interesting to look at different options for college,” he pointed out. 

Before Harrison could reply, their teacher walked in and their conversation was cut short as he began to assign them their summer assignments. 

The rest of the classes for the day went similarly, Micah being assigned a summer assignment and by the end of the day, his bag was so full that there was no way he’d be able to carry it all home. 

Emery had a meeting after school with the cheerleading team after school to go over next year’s plans, so Micah was stuck riding the bus home. He hated the bus. It was a mixture of students from St. John’s Academy and the local public school, so it was always loud, and almost always filled with profanity. 

Micah took out his earbuds and let the sound of Christian rock fill his ears as he tried to tune out the loud high school students surrounding him. 

By the time he got home, his mom was already home from the errands she had to run that day. Usually, he would be told to sit at the table and get started on his schoolwork, but since it was the start to his summer holidays, his mom stopped him. “Go on upstairs and start packing for your trip, Micah, I’ll call you down when dinner is ready.” 

“Thanks mom!” Micah replied, already taking the steps two at a time. 

It felt like no time at all had passed when he was sitting on top of his suitcase, trying to get it to zip closed, when his mother walked in. “Micah, dinner’s ready,” she said, opening his bedroom door. 

“Already?” Micah asked, surprised when he noticed the sun had already set. 

The Baylor’s sat down for the meal, and after Micah’s father had prayed for the food on the table, they quickly ate the dinner that had been placed in front of them. 

“Okay, Micah, Emery, you two need to get plenty of sleep tonight. I know that Caeden is driving, but it’s a long drive and I want all of you to help keep your eyes on the road,” Mr. Baylor said. 

After saying their goodnights, both Baylor children headed to their own rooms and called it a night. 

Micah was woken up by the sound of his door opening and his mother walking in. He rubbed his eyes, and glancing at the clock above his door, he saw that it was 6:30am. “I’ve already woken up Emery, you two have an early day ahead of you. Go ahead and get dressed while I finish making breakfast,” she said. 

Micah rolled out of bed and quickly got ready for the day before grabbing his bag and heading downstairs to where his father was already sitting at the head of the table. Emery still looked half asleep, holding a steaming cup of coffee. 

“Breakfast is ready, come on, come sit,” Micah’s mother spoke from where she had just finished setting four spaces at the table. 

“Before we begin eating, Emery, would you like to lead us in prayer?” Mr. Baylor asked, setting his newspaper off to the side. 

Emery, who was still half asleep, nodded. “Lord, thank you for blessing us with this food, and thank you for giving us this day,” she said, and her mother quickly picked up where she left off. 

“Lord, please protect Micah, Emery, and Caeden over the coming months. I pray that you keep them safe and that you be with them as they make such an important decision for their futures. It is your name we pray, Amen,” she finished. 

The three remaining Baylors echoed the closing before they began eating. “Your father and I have been speaking, and we just want you to know how much trust we’re putting into you by allowing you to go on this trip,” Mrs. Baylor said, looking between Micah and Emery. “And while we understand that between driving and looking at colleges, you might not make it to a church service every Sunday. We’d like it if you would at least promise to tune into online sermons. It’s so important that you continue to hear the Word even when you aren’t at home, going with us,” she finished. “You two are old enough to make the Lord a priority.” 

“Yeah, of course. I’m sure that’s what Em and Caeden planned for anyways,” Micah spoke up before bringing a spoonful of cereal to his mouth. 

“Emery, you have the list of the hotels we’ve booked for you, right?” their mother asked, picking up her napkin to dab at the corner of her lips. “It’s so important that you stay on schedule, none of you are old enough to book your own rooms, so if you’re late, you have to call us,” their mom said, the worry evident in her voice.

“Don’t worry, mom, we’ll be fine. We’ll stay on schedule, there’s nothing for you to worry about,” Emery answered, but their mother still looked anxious. “And if for some crazy reason there are any issues, we’ll call you. I promise,” she added. 

That seemed to ease their mother’s mind enough that they could all finish their breakfast in a comfortable silence. The silence was only broken with a knock on the door. 

Emery jumped up from where she was sitting, “Come on, Micah, it’s time to go,” she said. As Emery went to answer the door and let Caeden in, Micah picked up both his own dishes and Emery’s. The Baylor family had many rules, and one of them was that the dishes you used, you wash. As Micah walked into the kitchen with the stack of plates, his mother took them from his hand. “I’ll get these,” she said, putting the plates in the sink and pulling him into a hug. “Have fun this summer, but be on your best behavior,” she said. 

“I will be, I promise. I love you!” he said, walking towards where Emery and Caeden were already struggling with the too-many bags his sister had packed.

“Bye mom, bye dad! Love you guys!” Micah called back, Emery mumbling something similar as they walked out the front door. 

As soon as they got their bags stuffed into the trunk of Caeden’s car, Emery jumped in the passenger seat and Micah slid into the backs. “Let the summer begin,” Emery said, rolling down her window and putting her hair up in a ponytail. She put on a pair of black sunglasses as Caeden started the car, music already blasting from the speakers as they pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. 

With the cool air pouring out of the air conditioner and the sound of his sister and her best friend screaming the lyrics to whatever cheesy pop song was playing on the radio, Micah knew he was in for a summer he would never forget.


End file.
